New shopfloors, driven by tech

Manufacturing, a typically labour-intensive process, is adopting technology to boost productivity and save costs. It is automating core processes to improve quality and stay competitive. This is Industry 4.0 at its most granular.Priyanka Sangani | ET Tech | Updated: May 10, 2019, 07:06 IST

Indian shop floors are going smart. Manufacturing, a typically labour-intensive process, is adopting technology to boost productivity and save costs. It is automating core processes to improve quality and stay competitive. This is Industry 4.0 at its most granular.

At the ion exchange resins unit, the company has removed workers from its chemical mixing process. Instead, it has created an algorithm for each ‘recipe’. An operator feeds the recipe into a system. It then releases chemicals automatically from vats located on the top floor of a five-storey structure. The steamer and chiller, on the floors below, are then set to the required temperature and pressure.

“It’s a very tough process to create algorithms for each product. We’ve taken what was a manual process and completely automated it,” said M S Unnikrishnan, managing director, Thermax.

Thermax plans to upgrade 13 other plants, some of which are nearly four decades old. Its new facility in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh, is already highly automated and the company has cut the production cycle to 15 days from 40 earlier.

The industrial automation market is India is worth $2 billion, according to industry estimates. The degree of automation, however, varies across sectors.

Consumer goods makers have adopted Internet of Things (IoT) to track processes and deployed robots on the shop floor.

In other sectors, production drawings are being replaced with handheld devices, reducing potential errors. Some manufacturers are using 3D printers.

Engineering giant Larsen & Toubro is rapidly automating shop floors and construction sites. On the shop floor, for example, welding is no longer a manual job, even down to maintaining the right temperature.

“The operator now sits in a console and monitors the process, which provides a better work environment for him, as well as improving the quality of the work done,” said S. Anantha Sayana, chief digital officer at L&T.

Automating a heavy engineering line with a 12-month product cycle is different from mass production supply chains, where the process is repetitive.

Three years ago, L&T digitally transformed its construction business, which is 60% of the company. “We’ve connected more than 9,600 pieces of equipment at over 400 project sites, by installing sensors and gateways which give us real time data and visibility,” Sayana said.

In automaker Mahindra and Mahindra’s shop floor, 70% of the body shop methods are robotic, from the earlier manual-only workflow.

“We believe that the enabling ecosystem for adoption of technology is critical,” said Vijay Kalra, chief of manufacturing operations – auto sector at M&M. “The people who finally have to work on these technologies should be well versed with it and the need should also come from their end.”

The auto industry is doing rapid prototyping using some of its 3D and AR/VR solutions, said Anumukonda Ramesh, country manager at UnityTechnologies, which sets up platforms to develop such applications.

Reliance Industries is investing in virtual reality, useful in interactive training and testing for improved safety and reliability.

“3D printing will be an important component of the RIL’s digital manufacturing architecture. RIL has procured state-of-the art printers to experiment and learn about this new technology platform while developing potential use cases in manufacturing,” according to its 2018 annual report.

Most companies are relying on internal teams to design and plan the shift to automation. They are working with startups or other vendors only for the actual technology.

“Many of the core technologies and platforms for our solutions are available in the market, we do the solutioning in-house. We also have access to the expertise and services at group companies,” said L&T’s Sayana.

Implementing the changes is, however, challenging.

“For executing the digital initiatives across Mahindra, initially we faced some internal challenges in terms of IT infrastructure, equipment compatibility and skill gap,” said Kalra of M&M.

Retrofitting existing equipment with sensors without affecting production is a worry, slowing automation. Lack of coordination across the value chain is yet another headache.

“Individual technological advancements will fail to achieve its true potential if the current ecosystem of partners, startups, technology providers remains disjoint and operate in their individual silos,” said Ray of Protiviti.

Yet, benefits outweigh the hiccups, as increased adoption shows.

Thermax and L&T track all material entering the shop floor. This helps in better understanding where components are used. The traceability factor has cut down wastage.

The high cost of investment may be a deterrent, but cost savings are proving to be attractive for manufacturers. The automation initiative is only expected to quicken from here on.